Method and system for attaching packaged food items

ABSTRACT

A method and system for attaching packaged food items that includes a first food container having a top lid that defines a first face portion, a second food container having a second face portion, and a sealing member attached to at least one of the first face portion and the second face portion that sealably engages the first face portion to the second face portion.

BACKGROUND

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and system forattaching packaged food items.

[0003] 2. Background

[0004] In the highly competitive fast food restaurant industry, industryparticipants strive to achieve a competitive advantage in order to buildmarket share. One approach to obtaining an advantage over other industryparticipants is by offering a diverse menu that includes a wide range offood items. New food items are a constant focus of industry research,and are introduced to a menu or offered as short or long-term promotionsto enhance the culinary experience and customer satisfaction. Inaddition to the conventional fast food items, such as pizza, hamburgersand hot dogs, offered by fast food restaurants, a variety of new foodselections, such as soups, chili, salads, pies, ice cream, potato chips,and the like have been introduced to supplement the conventional fooditems, with the goal of attracting new customers.

[0005] In order to accommodate the growing and changing food selectionsin the fast food industry, various food containers are employed byrestaurants that are designed to efficiently and conveniently holdindividual food items and maintain food temperature and freshness duringtransport. Some typical food containers include various sized cardboardand plastic containers for soups, salads, and ice cream, closedcardboard boxes for hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza, and open-endedcardboard containers for French fries. Many of these food containers anddesigned to securely hold relatively small individual food items thatare, then, placed in a suitably sized carrying container, such as a bag,for easy transport from the restaurant. However, when the purchased foodis relatively large, the container that holds the food may act as itsown carrying container. For example, when the food item is a wholepizza, the pizza box acts as its own carrying container. In thisexample, when other food items, such as potato chips, bread sticks,etc., are purchased as a “side” item with the pizza, these items must betransported in a bag or bags that are carried separately from, orloosely on top of, the pizza box. As a result, relative to other fastfood establishments, fast food orders that include pizza are morecumbersome to transport while on foot or driving in a vehicle bydelivery personnel or the customer. In many instances, the difficulty oftransporting these additional food items acts as a disincentive fortheir purchase.

[0006] Accordingly, there is a continued need to improve the manner inwhich large fast food items that are transported in large foodcontainers may be conveniently attached to other packaged food items inorder to increase food sales, gain market share in the industry, and/orprovide convenience in transport from the fast food establishments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments, will be better understood whenread in conjunction with the appended drawings. In the drawings:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a view of a first food container of the presentinvention in the form of an opened pizza box;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a view of the second food container of the presentinvention in the form of a sealed bag of a packaged food item having asealing member attached thereto;

[0010]FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the present inventionwherein the first food container, in the form of a closed pizza box, hasa sealing member attached thereto; and

[0011]FIG. 4 is a view of the first food container of FIG. 1 or 3attached to the second food container.

SUMMARY

[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, a system is providedfor attaching packaged food items that includes a first food containerhaving a top lid that defines a first face portion, a second foodcontainer having a second face portion, and a sealing member attached toat least one of the first face portion and the second face portion thatsealably engages the first face portion to the second face portion.

[0013] In another embodiment of the present invention, a system forattaching packaged food items is provided that includes a food containerhaving a top lid that defines an exterior face portion, the exteriorface portion being a flat rectangular portion when the first foodcontainer is closed and placed on a horizontal surface, and a sealingmember attached to the face portion. The sealing member is adouble-sided adhesive member, wherein at least a portion of a first sideof the adhesive member is attached to the face portion, and at least aportion of a second side of the adhesive member is covered by adetachable protective member.

[0014] The present invention also provides a system for attachingpackaged food items that includes a food container in the form of apillow-shaped bag, the food container having a face portion, and asealing member attached to the face portion. The sealing member is adouble-sided adhesive member, wherein at least a portion of a first sideof the adhesive member is attached to the face portion, and at least aportion of a second side of the adhesive member is covered by adetachable protective member.

[0015] The present invention also provides a system for attachingpackaged food items that includes a first food container having a toplid that defines a first exterior face portion, the exterior faceportion being a flat rectangular portion when the first food containeris placed on a horizontal surface, a second food container having asecond face portion, the second face portion having a surface area sizedto be smaller than the first face portion, and a sealing member. Thesealing member is a double sided adhesive member, wherein at least aportion of a first side of the adhesive member is attached to at leastone of the first face portion and the second face portion, and at leasta portion of a second side of the adhesive member is covered by adetachable protective member.

[0016] The present invention also provides a method of attaching a firstfood container to a second food container. The method includes providinga first food container and a second food container, the first foodcontainer having a top lid that defines a first face portion, the secondfood container having a second face portion, at least one of the firstface portion and the second face portion having at least a portion of afirst side of a double sided sealing member attached thereto. Adetachable protective member is removed from a second side of thedouble-sided sealing member, such that the first food container may besecured to the second food container via the sealing member.

[0017] It should be understood that this invention is not limited to theembodiments disclosed in this Summary, but it is intended to covermodifications that are within the spirit and scope of the invention, asdefined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] It is to be understood that certain descriptions of the presentinvention have been simplified to illustrate only those elements andlimitations that are relevant to a clear understanding of the presentinvention, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, other elements.Those of ordinary skill in the art, upon considering the presentdescription of the invention, will recognize that other elements and/orlimitations may be desirable in order to implement the presentinvention. However, because such other elements and/or limitations maybe readily ascertained by one of ordinary skill upon considering thepresent description of the invention, and are not necessary for acomplete understanding of the present invention, a discussion of suchelements and limitations is not provided herein. For example, asdiscussed herein, the attachment system of the present invention may beemployed, for example, with various packaged food items. The variety ofpossible packaged food items are understood by those of ordinary skillin the art, and, accordingly, are not described in detail herein.

[0019] Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention will begenerally described wherein the first food container is a pizza box andthe second food container is a sealed bag of un-popped microwave popcornthat may be attached to the pizza box. It will be understood, however,that the present invention may be embodied in forms and applied to enduses that are not specifically and expressly described herein. Forexample, the first food container may be a conventional warming bag thatcontains one or more pizza boxes for transport by delivery personnel.

[0020] Also, for ease of description, the invention and devices to whichit may be attached may be described herein in a normal operatingposition, and terms such as top, upper, lower, front, back, horizontal,proximal, distal, etc., may be used with reference to the normaloperating position of the referenced device or element. It will beunderstood, however, that the apparatus of the invention may bemanufactured, stored, transported, used, and sold in orientations otherthan those described.

[0021]FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a first food container 10 ofthe present invention having a top lid 12 that may be opened forreceiving a food item, such as a pizza 2. Top lid 12 typically includesfolded top panels 13 that may be inserted into or over sidewalls 16 toenclose the food item therein. Although first food container 10 may beany shape and size, in the closed position, top lid 12, top panels 13,sidewalls 16, and base 18 typically form a generally rectangular-shapedcardboard box container. Top lid 12 of the first food container 10defines an exterior face portion 14 (best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4)that may be a flat rectangular portion when first food container 10 isplaced on a horizontal surface. Typically, first food container 10 issized to be slightly larger than the food contained therein. Forexample, when first food container 10 is a pizza box, food container 10is sized such that the length, width, and height of the box accommodatesthe diameter and thickness of the pizza, as illustrated. Following theplacement of the food within food container 10, top lid 12 may be closedto contain the food to be transported.

[0022]FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a second food container 20employed in the method and system of the present invention. Althoughsecond food container 20 may contain any packaged food item, second foodcontainer 20 may be in the form of a pillow-shaped bag of un-poppedmicrowave popcorn. In this embodiment, second food container 20 may be ahermetically sealed container that includes a film wrap 24 thereabout topreserve the popcorn enclosed therein. As is conventionally known in theart, film 24 may be any material that hermetically seals the food forproper storage, such as cellophane, until the microwave bag is removedfrom the film 24 for heating and consumption. The second food container20 includes a face portion 22. Face portion 22 of second food container20 may, but need not, have a smaller surface area than the face portion14 of first food container 10. It is contemplated that second foodcontainer 20 may be any suitable shape and size, such as a rectangularpillow-shaped bag, as illustrated.

[0023] As illustrated in FIG. 2, in one embodiment of the presentinvention, face portion 22 of second food container 20 is fitted with asealing member 30 for attaching second food container 20 to the faceportion 14 of first food container 10. Sealing member 30 may, but neednot, be centrally located on the face portion 22 of the second foodcontainer 20, as shown. When second food container 20 is an un-poppedbag of microwave popcorn, sealing member 30 may be attached to removablefilm 24. Although sealing member 30 may be any mechanical attachmentmeans that provides sealable engagement between first food container 10and second food container 20, in one embodiment, sealing member 30 maybe an adhesive strip. The adhesive strip may be an elongated memberhaving a generally rectangular configuration. The adhesive strip may bea double-sided adhesive member so that at least a portion of a firstside of the adhesive strip is secured to second face portion 22 ofsecond food container 20. The sealing member 30 may include a protectivemember 32, such as a Mylar strip, positioned over a second side of theadhesive strip to preserve the adhesive characteristics of sealingmember 30 until such time as the user intends to secure second foodcontainer 20 to the first food container 10. Sealing member 30 may, butneed not be, a double-sided adhesive strip as discussed herein, but maybe any adhesive or securing member, such as, for example, a hook andloop fastening mechanism (i.e., “Velcro”), that suitably secures faceportion 14 of first food container 10 to face portion 22 of second foodcontainer 20.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 3, in another embodiment of the presentinvention, sealing member 30 may be connected to the exterior faceportion 14 of top lid 12 of first food container 10, as shown. In thisembodiment, where sealing member 30 is an adhesive strip, the first sideof sealing member 30 may be attached to face portion 14 of top lid 12.Sealing member 30 may, but need not, be centrally located on faceportion 14 of first food container 10, as illustrated. Protective member32, as discussed above, may be employed over the second side of thesealing member 30, as illustrated. After removal of at least a portionof protective member 32, face portion 22 of the second food container 20may be secured to the second side of sealing member 30 when face portion22 comes into close association with face portion 14 of first container10.

[0025] Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when sealing member 30 isa double-sided adhesive strip, one side of the adhesive strip may,initially, be attached to either face portion 14 of first food container10 or face portion 22 of second food container 20 prior to itsattachment to the other food container.

[0026]FIG. 4 illustrates the combined form of first food container 10attached to second food container 20. As discussed above, first foodcontainer 10, in its closed position, includes an external face portion14 that may be a flat rectangular portion. The second food container 20includes a face portion 22. A sealing member 30, such as a double-sidedadhesive member, may be attached to either face portion 14 or faceportion 22. In one embodiment, the user may remove at least a portion ofthe detachable protective member 32 from a second side of thedouble-sided adhesive member to detachably secure first food container10 to second food container 20. The attachment may be either permanentor temporary so long as the sealing member does not inhibit theaccessibility of the food contents inside first food container 10 orsecond food container 20. For example, in an embodiment comprising apizza box as first food container 10 and an un-popped bag of microwavepopcorn as second food container 20, the bag of un-popped popcorn, butnot necessarily film 24, should be detachable from the pizza box.

[0027] It is contemplated that more than one sealing member 30 may beattached to one or both of first food container 10 and second foodcontainer 20. For example, in embodiments where first food container 10and second food container 20 each include a sealing member 30, sealingmembers 30 may be aligned to engage each other to secure the first foodcontainer 10 to the second food container 20, may be intentionallymisaligned to provide multiple contact points between the first foodcontainer 10 and the second food container 20, or may be a combinationof alignment and intentional misaligned sealing members 30. Inembodiments where only one of either first food container 10 and secondfood container 20 includes multiple sealing members 30, each sealingmember 30 may provide a contact point between the food containers.

[0028] The present invention provides a convenient system and method ofconnecting packaged food items, such as a sealed bag of un-poppedmicrowave popcorn, to large food items that are transported in their owncarrying container, such as pizza box. The attachment system reduces thepossibility that food orders may be separated or misplaced by the fastfood employee and reduces the inconvenience that is associated withtransporting these items while on foot or driving in a vehicle. Becausethe difficulty of transporting these additional food items acts as adisincentive for their purchase, the convenience associated with thepresent invention encourages the sale or promotion of additional fooditems at fast food restaurants.

[0029] It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges could be made to the embodiments described above withoutdeparting from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood,therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particularembodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications thatare within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by theappended claims.

Therefore, I claim:
 1. A system for attaching packaged food items, comprising: a first food container having a top lid that defines a first face portion; a second food container having a second face portion; and a sealing member attached to at least one of the first face portion and the second face portion that sealably engages the first face portion to the second face portion.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first face portion is a flat rectangular member when the first food container is closed and placed on a horizontal surface.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first food container is a rectangular-shaped cardboard box container.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the first food container is a pizza box.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the second food container is a sealed bag.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the second food container is a pillow-shaped bag of un-popped microwave popcorn, hermetically sealed in a film wrap.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the sealing member is a double sided adhesive member, at least a portion of a first side of the sealing member being attached to the second face portion of the second food container.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein at least a portion of a second side of the double sided adhesive member is covered by a detachable protective member.
 9. A system for attaching packaged food items, comprising: a food container having a top lid that defines an exterior face portion, the exterior face portion being a flat rectangular portion when the first food container is closed and placed on a horizontal surface; and a sealing member attached to the face portion, the sealing member being a double-sided adhesive member, at least a portion of a first side of the adhesive member is attached to the face portion, and at least a portion of a second side of the adhesive member is covered by a detachable protective member.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first closed food container is a rectangular-shaped cardboard box container.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the first closed food container is a pizza box.
 12. A system for attaching packaged food items, comprising: a food container in the form of a pillow-shaped bag, the food container having a face portion; and a sealing member attached to the face portion, the sealing member being a double-sided adhesive member, at least a portion of a first side of the adhesive member is attached to the face portion, and at least a portion of a second side of the adhesive member is covered by a detachable protective member.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the food container is a hermetically sealed container of un-popped microwave popcorn.
 14. A system for attaching packaged food items, comprising: a first food container having a top lid that defines a first exterior face portion, the exterior face portion being a flat rectangular portion when the first food container is placed on a horizontal surface: a second food container having a second face portion, the second face portion having a surface area sized to be smaller than the first face portion; and a sealing member, the sealing member being a double sided adhesive member, at least a portion of a first side of the adhesive member is attached to at least one of the first face portion and the second face portion, and at least a portion of a second side of the adhesive member is covered by a detachable protective member.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first food container is a pizza box.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the second food container is a sealed bag.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first side of the sealing member is attached to the second food container.
 18. A method of attaching a first food container to a second food container, comprising; providing a first food container and a second food container, the first food container having a top lid that defines a first face portion, the second food container having a second face portion, at least one of the first face portion and the second face portion having at least a portion of a first side of a double sided sealing member attached thereto; removing a detachable protective member from a second side of the double sided sealing member; and securing the first food container to the second food container via the sealing member.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first food container is a box for containing a first food item, the first face portion being a flat rectangular portion, and the second food container being a sealed bag.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first closed food container is a pizza box, and the second food container is a bag of un-popped microwave popcorn, sealed in a film wrap.
 21. The method of claim 20, wherein at least a portion of a first side of the sealing member is attached to the film of the second food container and wherein at least a portion of a second side of the double sided adhesive member is covered by a detachable protective member. 